Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered
Hebrews 5:8
Funny thing about being a son: I had nothing to do with it. From the moment of conception, I was a son. There was no questionnaire about it. I didn’t really have a choice. No one asked me about what I wanted. If this was a good choice or not. I wasn’t sent a survey afterwards to ask for feedback.
But there’s very few things in this life that are like that. Where we don’t have a choice. Where we have a say. When it comes to where we live and who we marry, we choose. Our job and career are choices that we’ve made. The things we buy and the food we eat all come from choices.
When it comes to who Jesus is, he had no choice. Jesus was and is the Son of God. Period. He clearly said that he was God’s one and only Son. He had a eternal and unique relationship with God the Father. Not only was he the Son of God, but he was God the Son. Very God of Very God[1]. The Bible is full to overflowing with specific statements and truths that Jesus was and is God.
We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
1 John 5:20
For us to choose becoming someone special, we have to do something to achieve it. Earn it. Work for it. The bigger the name, the more we have to do. The greater the audience, the more visible our accomplishment. The more important the role and position, the more to be done.
Take some courses.
Pass tests and a final exam.
Work hard.
Be promoted over and over again.
More and more sales.
More and more money.
Build a huge internet following.
Jesus didn’t have to do any of these things. He was and is the Son of God from eternity past. He was and is God the Son from eternity past. And while he had all power, all knowledge, could speak the universe into existence, there was something that he’d never experienced. And that was experiencing obedience.
As God, he “knew” what obedience was. The idea of obedience wasn’t a word that he couldn’t define. There was no one greater than him since he was God. There had never been any idea or discussion in eternity where God the Son had to submit himself to God the Father. From eternity past, they were one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They glorified and deferred to each other in love[2].
When God the Son came to Earth as Jesus, he needed to “experience” obedience. He didn’t have to learn obedience as God because always, always, always did the things that pleased the Father[3]. But to be our great high priest, Jesus had to be touched with all the different temptations and weaknesses that we experience in this life.
It’s one thing for someone’s who been poor all their lives to keep on being poor. But it’s another thing for someone born rich to experience the loss of everything. To go from the penthouse to the outhouse. From living on Park Avenue to living in a park. The greater the fall, the harder the experience.
So, imagine what Jesus experienced for us. He was seated on the throne of heaven[4]. Worshiped day and night. Angles flying around singing holy, holy, holy[5]. You speak and the worlds are made from nothing[6].
Jesus, God from eternity past, experienced obedience in a way that no one else has. And, if experiencing obedience in life wasn’t enough, there was one more piece of obedience he had to personally go through. His obedience took him through being betrayed. Arrested. Tortured, Crucified on a cross till dead[7].
Now, we’ve all experienced hard things in this life. Some of them left physical scars. Some emotional scars. But nothing comes anywhere close to what Jesus went through to personal experience obedience.
And the one word that best describes the result of his obedience is suffered. The total weight of who we are and what we’ve done fell on the only perfect person who ever lived. Our only response can be worshipping him for who he is and all he’s done. And to put our lives at his feet, obeying anything and everything he asks.
Noodling Questions
How is obedience a difficult idea to swallow and follow today?
Describe how Jesus’ obedience is a game changer for you.
Why do we run towards pleasure and away from suffering?
[1] Nicene Creed of 325
[2] John 17:5
[3] John 8:29
[4] Matthew 22:44, Revelation 4:2,3
[5] Isaiah 6:3
[6] Psalm 33:9
[7] Philippians 2:8
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